But while those assumptions were based on his knownÂ contacts with Russians and his status as one of few senior White House aides, there’s another reason his naming fits the puzzle:Â He’s related to Trump.

Kushner’s ability to even work in the White House has been the subject of plenty of debate because he is Trump’s son-in-law. (Kushner has made concessions to try and avoid violating a federal anti-nepotism law, including forgoing a paycheck.) And a big reason anti-nepotism laws exist is to avoid the corruption that all too often comes with installing your relatives in positions of power. As any expert on corrupt authoritarian regimes throughout history will tell you, those regimes’ wrongdoing will often run through family members with official titles.

It isn’t clear whatÂ possible crimes might be under investigation, and it’s important to emphasize that Kushner hasn’t been charged with anything. We don’t know where this will lead, if anywhere.

In addition to possible coordination between the Kremlin and the Trump campaign to influence the 2016 presidential election, investigators are also looking broadly into possible financial crimes â but the people familiar with the matter, who were not authorized to speak publicly, did not specify who or what was being examined.

In other words, this isn’t just about whether Kushner or anyone else facilitated collusion with Russia during the 2016 campaign; indeed, the two meetings he had with Russians that have been spotlighted actually came in December, after Trump was elected. Federal investigators appear to be cluing on some other potential crimes that may or may not be related to that.

Kushner met with Russian Ambassdor Sergey Kislyak and then with Sergey Gorkov, the head ofÂ Vnesheconombank,Â which faced U.S. sanctions after Russia’s annexation of Crimea. Beyond that, there aren’t many details.

If it does lead down a path to corruption allegations, though, there will be plenty of I-told-you-sos.

âYouâve seen it in countries all over the world where theyâve appointed family members, whether itâs their son, daughter, in-laws â it provides for tremendous opportunities for corruption,â Shruti Shah, an international corruption expert at Coalition for Integrity,Â told HuffPost last month. âPeople who want to curry favor find their way to provide favors to family members as a way to get closer to the person in power.â

Added Gerald Feierstein, a former top State Department official and ambassador to Yemen in the Obama administration:Â âFor many countries and governments, certainly in the Gulf, in the Middle East, they would recognize this pattern immediately. … I think that they would find it completely normal that leaders mix personal business interests with government affairs and would use family members in various official responsibilities.â

Former Obama administration ethics counsel Norman L. Eisen was among those criticizing that move. And here’s what Eisen saidÂ back in December, when Kushner’s potential role in the Trump White House first made news:

The problem with it is it sends a message that if you want to have influence in the administration, do it through the kids. And thereâs a tradition. This is not the first time this has happened. Iâm just shocked itâs happened in the United States.

It’s possible that Kushner’s familial relationship with Trump is part of the reason he’s been subjected to more scrutiny than any other White House adviser in this probe. And as emphasized above, we have no idea what will come of this.

But if scrutiny of Kushner becomes more intense and there appears to be some validity to it, it will reinforce a central reason whyÂ ethics experts say these kinds of arrangements are to be avoided in the first place.